Indie book reviews

IndieReader’s reviewers are tough, but fair

Our Reviewers won’t judge your book as compared to other self-published titles, but against other books, period. Our ratings are based on the following criteria, although reviewers are able to award partial stars (i.e. a 1.3 or a 4.7), rather than rounding up or down to a whole or half number.

1/5

Really bad 
Work on it.

2/5

Mediocre
1-2 bright spots.

3/5

Good
Worth reading.

4/5

Very Good
1-2 spots that need work

5/5

Excellent!
Must-read.

* IndieReader receives compensation for most of the books it reviews, along with copies of those books.

IR Approved
Rating:
4.0 / 5.0

Though it would benefit from editing in places, A FAR CRY FROM YESTERDAY: Finding Tomorrow in Distant Lands is an engaging account of Manon Rinsma's...

IR Approved
Rating:
4.2 / 5.0

Though there are some wrinkles in the presentation, Richard Lowy's KALMAN AND LEOPOLD: Surviving Mengele's Auschwitz contains a story about Auschwitz's horrors that ought to...

IR Approved
March 7, 2025

CARRYING THE TIGER

By Tony Stewart
Rating:
4.6 / 5.0

From the intimate details of his wife’s battle with stage IV lung cancer to his own path through grief, Tony Stewart’s CARRYING THE TIGER: Living...

March 5, 2025

EVERYTHING IS NOT PEACHEY

By Lisa Peachey
Rating:
3.9 / 5.0

Though it occasionally tacks close to some brands of pseudoscience, Lisa Peachey’s EVERYTHING IS NOT PEACHEY is a thoughtful, affecting, deeply personal account of chronic...

February 28, 2025

CYCLING 70 YEARS ONCE WORLD CHAMPION

By Gordon Neale
Rating:
2.5 / 5.0

Though the underlying material is of historic interest, Gordon Neale’s CYCLING 70 YEARS ONCE WORLD CHAMPION lacks a strong central narrative to elevate it from...

IR Approved
Rating:
5.0 / 5.0

Martha Walandouw Lohn and Brian Kimmel's BLUE SKIES, TROUBLED WATERS: An American Twin's WWII Odyssey in Minahasa, Indonesia offers a unique perspective on a pivotal...

IR Approved
February 11, 2025

KARMA & KISMET

By Michael Shandler
Rating:
4.5 / 5.0

Told with the thoughtful reflectiveness of a practiced yogi but with persistent emotional immediacy, Michael Shandler’s KARMA & KISMET is an excellent memoir of both...

IR Approved
February 10, 2025

COUNTERMELODIES: A MEMOIR IN SONATA FORM

By Ernestine Whitman
Rating:
4.8 / 5.0

Through powerful storytelling and unflinching honesty, Ernestine Whitman's COUNTERMELODIES: A Memoir in Sonata Form transcends genre boundaries—providing both a strong critique of classical music's patriarchal...

IR Approved
January 22, 2025

HUMBLED ON PURPOSE

By Maggie Michaels DeCan
Rating:
4.4 / 5.0

In HUMBLED ON PURPOSE, Maggie Michaels DeCan delivers a heartfelt memoir that describes a difficult childhood, a successful executive career, and a fulfilling transition into...

Rating:
3.5 / 5.0

Although afflicted with both a surfeit and a lack of detail in different ways, Kristina Ahlnäs’s KRISTINA'S CACHE: A Memoir of Adventure and Survival in...

IR Approved
January 6, 2025

OUR STORY

By Bill Clark, Glenda Clark, Jim Clark
Rating:
4.5 / 5.0

Part love story, part historical document, and part meditation on the nature of enduring partnership, Bill, Glenda, and Jim Clark’s OUR STORY offers readers a...

IR Approved
December 18, 2024

OLD WHITE MAN WRITING

By Joshua Gidding
Rating:
5.0 / 5.0

Through its innovative structure and unflinching self-examination, Joshua Gidding’s OLD WHITE MAN WRITING offers a new approach to the biographical template—resulting in a challenging, highly...

Get A PROFESSIONAL REVIEW FOR YOUR BOOK!